Hearthstone pro Blitzchung says he would face suspension again for Hong Kong

[Cal Jeffrey]

In a nutshell: Last year, Blizzard got itself embroiled in a controversy when it suspended several players and broadcasters for showing support to the Hong Kong protesters during sanctioned broadcasts. With the dust just beginning to settle, the player who sparked the whole uproar is sharing his thoughts on what happened for the first time. He says he'd do it all again.

In an interview with People Make Games on Thursday, suspended Hearthstone player Ng "Blitzchung" Wai Chung said he has no regrets for standing up for the Hong Kong protesters and would not change a thing.

"If I had a chance to go back, I would still do it," the ousted player said. "Because it's a must-do thing. I have to do it."

While he feels like Blizzard "kind of" took appropriate action with him, he said that the suspension of the two commentators during his moment of protest was not fair.
He would like to see the broadcasters reinstated.

In an interview after the Asia-Pacific Grandmasters tournament last October, Blitzchung wore a mask similar to the Hong Kong protesters and shouted in Mandarin, "Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our age!" For this, he was stripped of his event winnings and suspended from playing Hearthstone professionally for a year. The two casters from Taiwan conducting the interview were also suspended.

After backlash from the community and from within the company itself, Blizzard gave the prize money back and reduced Chung's suspension to six months. When asked if he would like to receive an apology from Blizzard, Blitzchung said it was not necessary.

"No. I mean I don't need that kind of stuff," he said, chuckling. "Just, you know, actions speak louder than words."

During his suspension, which ends in April, Blitzchung has taken time off from school as well. Because of the press attention he has received, he has become somewhat famous in China, which is not necessarily a good thing. The Communist regime is well-known for silencing dissenters.

"That thing being so public, that's part of where my pressure comes from," the pro-gamer said. "Like not only being under the spotlight but like when you're more well-known, you're more dangerous."

He remains optimistic about Hong Kong's future. He says he has hope when he sees "how many people are out there trying to protest."

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/83709-hearthstone-pro-blitzchung-would-face-suspension-again-hong.html

 

[arrowflash]

Nice to see there are still people with a spine and thick skin these days. Especially from his generation.

 

[yRaz]

Nice to see there are still people with a spine and thick skin these days. Especially from his generation.

I'd say his age group of americans are the spineless ones. We've grown up to expect this kind of freedom and luxury without actually seeing what it costs. If the founding fathers say what people are doing with the freedom they died for I don't think they would have bothered fighting at all.

 

[treetops]

Gamers care until they realize, oh wait my PC was probably made in a sweat shop. And btw our founding fathers owned slaves and mass murdered Native Americans with small pox blankets.

Our money looks like baseball cards with slave owners - Dave Chappelle

 

[Evernessince]

I'd say his age group of americans are the spineless ones. We've grown up to expect this kind of freedom and luxury without actually seeing what it costs. If the founding fathers say what people are doing with the freedom they died for I don't think they would have bothered fighting at all.

Nice to see there are still people with a spine and thick skin these days. Especially from his generation.

It's comments like these that are the foundation of the whole ok boomer sentiment.

Instead of throwing stones and generalizing entire groups of people based on their generation, how about showing us how your generation did things in a constructive manner instead of tearing other's down, eh?

 

[yRaz]

It's comments like these that are the foundation of the whole ok boomer sentiment.

Instead of throwing stones and generalizing entire groups of people based on their generation, how about showing us how your generation did things in a constructive manner instead of tearing other's down, eh?

As an individual, I think the majority of my generation sucks and that the criticisms of it are accurate.

 

[amstech]

Nice to see there are still people with a spine and thick skin these days. Especially from his generation.

Agreed, love what the kid is doing.
I understand Blizzards angle too, they have to cater to their investors; and while still a strong company they are not the giant they were during what I am starting to call ' The Golden Lich King' era.
Socialism and Communism are embarrassments to humanity, and when folks get a taste of free enterprise/standard freedoms, it can be hard to go home.

 

[Evernessince]

As an individual, I think the majority of my generation sucks and that the criticisms of it are accurate.

You are basing "your generation" on a sample size of likely less then 100 out of millions. What exactly are you basing your impressing of your generation on? The Internet? An extremely small local sample size?

I'd really like to know the source of your supposition.

Socialism and Communism are embarrassments to humanity, and when folks get a taste of free enterprise/standard freedoms, it can be hard to go home.

America employs many socialist systems FYI. FDR, considered one of the greatest presidents, was even writing a 2nd bill of rights including universal basic income and universal healthcare before he died.

Socialism and Communism are not inherently bad. It all depends on the particular implementation in any given country. Just like any other game, the system doesn't matter if the rules are rigged. Mind you, Socialism, Communism, and even capitalism are political theories, not practical implementation blueprints. That's why you often see governments take ideas from multiple. Draw knowledge from only one source and it becomes rigid and stale.

Communism was a theory devised to prevent capitalists from abusing the means of production and their wealth over the lower classes (those of lower wealth). It makes sense that those kind of systems would be coming back in style as the wealth gap between the poor / middle class and the rich has exploded. No one expects these ideas to be implemented verbatim but given the current predicament, it makes a heck lot more sense to draw on other sources of knowledge to help craft new ideas instead of giving more money to the rich and hoping it trickles down. Mind you, that particular lie has been told since the age of kings and very very very rarely do you ever since the rich willingly relinquish their power.

 

[arrowflash]

I'd say his age group of americans are the spineless ones. We've grown up to expect this kind of freedom and luxury without actually seeing what it costs. If the founding fathers say what people are doing with the freedom they died for I don't think they would have bothered fighting at all.

Maybe, but I see this happenning all over the world. Most people would probably apologize in temptation of the Blizzard bux or buckle under the pressure.

Socialism and Communism are not inherently bad. It all depends on the particular implementation in any given country. Just like any other game, the system doesn't matter if the rules are rigged. Mind you, Socialism, Communism, and even capitalism are political theories, not practical implementation blueprints. That's why you often see governments take ideas from multiple. Draw knowledge from only one source and it becomes rigid and stale.

Communism was a theory devised to prevent capitalists from abusing the means of production and their wealth over the lower classes (those of lower wealth). It makes sense that those kind of systems would be coming back in style as the wealth gap between the poor / middle class and the rich has exploded. No one expects these ideas to be implemented verbatim but given the current predicament, it makes a heck lot more sense to draw on other sources of knowledge to help craft new ideas instead of giving more money to the rich and hoping it trickles down. Mind you, that particular lie has been told since the age of kings and very very very rarely do you ever since the rich willingly relinquish their power.

tl;dr: "Real communism has never been tried before!"

I was going to reply your previous comment, but after this I give up.

 

[Evernessince]

tl;dr: "Real communism has never been tried before!"

I was going to reply your previous comment, but after this I give up.

You clearly missed the point. There's no such thing as "real" communism. Communism is an idea, not a practical guideline to something that could be actually implemented. As well all know there is a big difference between having an idea and actually implementing it, especially with something as complex as a government. Ditto goes for any other political or economic ideology (hence the name).

If you need a one sentence summary of everything perhaps this topic is not for you. At the very least you definitely need to go back and re-read as your TLDR isn't anywhere close to accurate.

 

[gusticles41]

I'd say his age group of americans are the spineless ones. We've grown up to expect this kind of freedom and luxury without actually seeing what it costs. If the founding fathers say what people are doing with the freedom they died for I don't think they would have bothered fighting at all.

So what, we need another war? You're not content with how free people use their freedom?